ELSANOR, Alabama — With construction of a new classroom building on the horizon this summer, a former student is making one final push to save the original Elsanor School building.

Constructed in 1913, the 103-year-old building served as the first one-room school house. The building was moved to is current location when a new school was constructed in 1925.

There it served first as a teacherage, housing five different principal/teachers and their families and as a residence for a few single teachers. It served a number of years as a kindergarten classroom and is currently serving as a second grade classroom.

“There was a major construction project going on at the time, so I did not have class in the building,” said Natasha Beverly Pratt, “but my sisters did and I remember (as an older student) helping out with kindergarten classes in the building.”

Several years ago Baldwin County Historical Development Commission marked the building with a banner and shield as a historic building, but the building has fallen into disrepair. This past summer, the Baldwin County Board of Education announced plans to demolish the building to make way for new construction on the site.

Newspaper columnist and former school secretary Jeanette Ryan made a plea to save the old building. Two letters were published in The Times Independent and after the last letter was published in March, Pratt, whose mother Bobbie Beverly teaches at Robertsdale High School and herself teaches at St. Patrick Catholic School in Robertsdale, decided to open a Go Fund Me account in an attempt to save the school building.

“The Baldwin Heritage Museum in Elberta said they would be happy to take the building if we could pay to get it moved,” Pratt said, adding that she recently received an estimate of $8,000 to $10,000 to move the building. “The building has always been such a large part of the community and we wanted to do something to preserve it.”

In November, school officials presented plans for Elsanor School as part of the Baldwin County School System’s Pay As You Go program.

Plans call for a 12,500 square foot facility which would add 10 additional classrooms, eliminating eight portable classrooms on the school campus. While there is no specific date on the start of the construction, bids for the project, estimated at nearly $1.8 million, are expected to be let in May, according to information released at a special meeting held Monday, April 11.

“I think they’re sending a message to our children that when something is old, it is no longer useful and when something is no longer useful, it needs to be torn down,” Pratt said. “It’s great that we’re looking toward the future, but at the same time we need to be teaching our children that preserving the past is important as well.”

According to the Go Fund Me account, the project raised $700 a six-day period from April 6 to April 12 and, Pratt said, she is hoping to get more local support after the group set up a display at the Elsanor Community Center during voting Tuesday for Alabama Board of Education District 1 runoff election.

“We’re looking for all the help we can get,” she said, “whether it’s monetary donations or if someone can help with moving the building, the more people who can get involved the better.”

If the building cannot be moved, according to the information provided on the Go Fund Me site, collected donations will be given to local foundations, museums, etc. who promote education and historic preservation in the community.

If you would like to donate, go to gofundme.com/4yxq37ps, or from the home page, search for Robertsdale, Alabama. You can also mail your donation to the Baldwin County Reading Council, P.O. Box 751, Robertsdale, AL 36567. Please make your check payable to the Baldwin County Reading Council.